KABUL - After its helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing in eastern Afghanistan, a group of mostly Turkish civilians was quickly surrounded by Taliban fighters and abducted, authorities said Monday.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for capturing 11 people from the aircraft and charged that they were NATO soldiers posing as civilians. Local officials and a NATO spokesman said that wasn’t true.
The private helicopter was carrying mechanical supplies and a technical staff from a project in eastern Khost province to Kabul on Sunday evening when it made a hard landing in the Azra district of eastern Logar province because of bad weather, said Din Mohammad Darwish, a spokesman for the governor of Logar.
The Taliban seized everyone aboard, Darwish said, adding that the Afghan government had launched a rescue mission.
The mountainous, sparsely populated Azra district is largely controlled by Taliban, who often move across the porous border between Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan.
Accounts varied slightly about who was aboard. The Turkish Foreign Ministry in Ankara said its information was that there were eight Turks, one Afghan and one Russian. A Russian Embassy press attache in Kabul confirmed the pilot was Russian.
“Afghan authorities with local leaders are trying to ascertain where they are,” the Turkish official said, requesting that his name not be used. “We understand they’re in good health. No one knows what exactly happened when they landed.”
John Manley, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, confirmed that a civilian helicopter had gone down in eastern Afghanistan and said the force was assisting in the recovery operation.
In an e-mail to news organizations, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the kidnappings and said the 11 people on the aircraft were posing as civilians but were in fact NATO troops wearing U.S. uniforms. “Mujahedeen immediately surrounded the chopper, detained all 11 foreigners aboard and completely destroyed the helicopter, which belongs to the foreign forces, by setting it alight,” the Taliban said in a message signed by the “spokesman of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”
The message said all those aboard were transferred to “the most secure region of the nation” - presumably a Taliban stronghold.
Manley said there was “absolutely no truth” to the claim that the abductees were wearing U.S. uniforms.
The helicopter was reportedly chartered from Kabul-based Khorasan Cargo Airlines, whose website says it specializes in troop and cargo transportation, medical evacuation and civilian logistics services.
Turkey, one of only two Muslim-majority members of NATO, had 1,093 troops in Afghanistan as of mid-February. Its forces carry out patrols and training of Afghan forces and are not involved in combat operations.
According to a report by the independent Afghan NGO Safety Office released Saturday, attacks by the Taliban and other insurgents rose sharply during the first quarter of 2013. The independent group reported 2,331 insurgent attacks during the January-March period, a 47 percent increase over the same period of 2012. The report added that 2013 was on target to become the second-most violent year since the war started, trailing only 2011.
Violence levels are being watched closely as NATO transfers more security responsibility to Afghan forces in advance of the scheduled withdrawal of foreign combat troops by late 2014. With most foreign troops leaving, the Taliban are stepping up attacks on Afghan government officials and their supporters, political analysts said, in a bid to strengthen their standing after 2014.
The International Security Assistance Force said Monday that Afghan and coalition security forces killed a senior Taliban leader, Mullah Hayatullah, during an operation in Kandahar province. Hayatullah purportedly organized roadside-bomb and small-arms attacks against Afghan and coalition forces and plotted assassinations of pro-government Afghans.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday he would host a meeting of top Afghan and Pakistani officials this week in Brussels to discuss reconciliation with the Taliban and other issues.
Reconciliation efforts between the Taliban and Afghanistan promoted by the United States have hit several snags, including the assassination of Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s hand-picked negotiator, which shattered the little trust that existed between his government and Taliban elements that might be willing to talk peace.
Karzai and his defense minister, along with Pakistan’s military chief and foreign secretary, will attend Wednesday’s meeting, Kerry said.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 04/23/2013